Award-winning tennis club with more than 400 members shares secret to success

Caerphilly Tennis Club’s growth has accelerated post-pandemic thanks to the tireless efforts made by its award winning head coach, Jonathan Morgan.

At just 29-years-old, coach Morgan has been a part of the club since he was seven, progressing into a part-time coaching roll at 18 before gaining the qualifications to become head coach at 22.

This was never the plan according to coach Morgan, who studied ICT at university in his late teens.

He said: “It’s been great fun these past eight years or so. I’ve seen the club grow and now I coach for over 30 hours a week. I couldn’t imagine an office job.”

The club, which is based at Virginia Park, offers tennis to a wide range of ages, with juniors welcome from the age of four, while the club’s oldest member is 78.

Coach Morgan admitted that it was difficult during the Covid pandemic, but he persevered, uploading around 200 tennis related videos to YouTube to help keep people active.

“I was uploading something for people to try out every day”, he said. “We have come out of the pandemic stronger than ever thanks to our membership structure.”

Instead of charging a fee per person to become a member, the club thought it would make more sense to charge a set price per household.

“We charge just £50 per household, which means anyone in that house can play as a member. It has meant that we now have a waiting list for every age group.

“At the end of the day, if it gets more people playing tennis then that can only be a good thing.”

Being the only coach at the club, coach Morgan knows that investing his time in the future is also important: “Right now we’ve got our ‘tennis leaders’ helping out with some coaching on a voluntary basis. They’re all around the age of 18 and can help me coach some of the younger members.”

The club’s structure and success has been recognised across Wales as it scooped best tennis club of the year award in both 2018 and 2019 – as well as being in the top three for the past five years.

With the club’s continued growth, coach Morgan explained what’s next for Caerphilly Tennis Club. He said: “We have six courts at the club but only three are lit by floodlights, it would be a big help if we can get that sorted.

“We also used to run family sessions before Covid which was fun. I’d like to get that back up and running.”

The club also offers several events throughout the year, with their flagship day being a Wimbledon-themed event in July where hundreds gather to test their skills.

On his personal future, coach Morgan said: “I’m a level three coach at the moment and I don’t want to go any higher. It gets too serious for me.

“I’m much happier coaching in a school with a bunch of kids who have never picked up a racket.”